Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22
a part of the KCSWCD website
page updated 09/10/2009
The 2009 MFDays happened over the past weekend.
While Hurricane Bill threatened, we didn't have any terrible weather in Leeds on Friday or Saturday, August 21st and 22nd. The heat was fairly oppressive on Saturday. Next year it will return to the Barker Farm in Leeds, Maine.
This year's attendance was disappointingly low. Next year is expected to be better. We'll let you know what the plans are as we learn them.
This was the first of two years at the Barker Farm and they were fine hosts.
If you were not able to join us this year, begin making your plans for next August. The specific dates for 2010 will be officially established in January.
Usually it is during the same dates as the balloon festival.
The links below were for this year's 2009 MFDays. I'll be adding some reports about this years exposition and some photos as I receive them.
Take a look at this year's Maine Farm Days poster by clicking here.
Click here for a 2009 brochure copy
Barker Farm, Inc., a fifth-generation farm owned and operated by David and Vicky Barker, is a conventional dairy farm located in Leeds (Androscoggin County), Maine. They milk 110 Holstein dairy cattle and raise their own replacement animals. Vicky handles all aspects of the dairy herd, milking the animals daily and managing the herd health with assistance from David and their sons. David and his father handle the field work and all the maintenance issues that arise with managing 215 acres of high density grain corn and 175 acres of hay. The Barkers have done an exemplary job maintaining their land, water and animal resources in such a way as to have minimal detrimental impact on the environment.
The Barker Farm is at 9 Barker Rd. It is located in North Leeds just east of Rt. 106 and just north of where the railroad tracks cross Rt. 106 [also called the Leeds/Livermore Falls Rd].
To get to the farm, the Leeds Road [Rt. 106] leaves Rt. 133 and goes south to Barker Rd. and the Barker Farm. Or, Rt. 106 leaves Rt. 219 on Livermore Falls Road [Rt. 106] and goes north to the Barker Farm. Use Google for a good map. We hope to have a good one linked here soon.
Click here for a Google map to 9 Barker Rd.
The Maine Farm Days committee spent many hours planning this year's event. Here they are at a meeting at the Barker Farm.
The days before and during the MFDays event meant hundreds of additional volunteer hours were devoted to the exhibition.
2008 info - Take a look at some of the pictures from the 2008 event on an attached page. Here is a brief article after the 2008 extravaganza . Click here.
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Click here for some pictures from the 2008 extravaganza.
I've moved the pictures so this page opens more quickly for people with slower internet service.
To return to the Andy-Valley SWCD website click here
For more information on the 2009 Maine Farm Days contact:
Jane Heikkinen
AVSWCD
PO Box 1938
254 Goddard Road
Lewiston, ME 04241-1938
207-753-9400 ext. 3
or e-mail at jane.heikkinen@me.nacdnet.net
or
Ben Blackwell
959 Preble Ave.
Madison, ME 04950
314-0879
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